Watch Ryan Beatty Serenade His Fellow Plane Passengers
Is there anything worse than being stuck on a grounded airplane? (Actually, yes.) Being stuck on a grounded airplane in the middle of a snow storm!
Singer Ryan Beatty was waiting for his plane to depart from Toronto, Canada after playing a show there when the flight attendant insisted he serenade his fellow passengers. So the 17-year-old YouTube breakout star got in front of the plane to provide some entertainment during the otherwise sucky situation. Meanwhile, you can actually see snow flurries flying around inside the plane!
Here's Ryan's explanation of the event:
so it was a freeeeezing cold day in Toronto, Canada, (day after my show) about 12 degrees I believe. Felt like 0 degrees with how much the wind was blowing. we boarded the plane at
Ryan Beatty Opens Up About His Crazy Successful Year, Plans For 2013
As I'm sure most Ryan Beatty fans remember, I first interviewed him via Skype about two years ago back when he had long, shaggy hair and was posting Bruno Mars covers on his YouTube channel. Wow, a lot has changed since then!
And even though we've caught up over the phone a few times since about the success of his No. 1 EP, it was nice to finally meet each another in person at Wat-aah's recent "1 Act, Give Back, Feel Good" event in New York City.
I asked him to reflect back on this past year and let us know what he has in store for 2013 (namely his album!). We also talked about you guys -- his devoted fans -- and why he will always be the same Ryan you fell in love with two years ago.
Check out our latest interview! (Past ones you can also read:
Ryan Beatty Supports Hurricane Sandy Relief With Special Performance
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, we've seen everyone from Rihanna to Bruce Springsteen lend their time, money and voices to help out the relief cause. But there's also a number of devoted stars who don't often get (or seek) the recognition.
One of these people is Ryan Beatty, a 17-year-old YouTube breakout star who recently topped the iTunes charts with his EP Because of You. This past week, Ryan performed at Wat-aah's "1 Act, Give Back, Feel Good" event in New York City, which was partnered by DoSomething.org. The event also featured teen pop stars Angelique Sabrina and Jordan Newt, and fans in attendance were urged to bring along canned goods to help benefit The Food Bank for New York City.
Like most aspiring singers, Ryan Beatty started posting videos of himself on YouTube. But unlike most of those singers, the 16-year-old Fresno, Calif. native became a bona fide star in a matter of months.
When I came across Ryan singing an especially good Bruno Mars cover in front of a set of bunkbeds last year, I knew I had to find out who this kid was. Little did I know, he already had thousands of diehard Twitter fans and millions of views on his videos. I was a little late to the party.
So I used my Scooter-Braun-inspired research skills and soon got in contact with him for an interview. We talked over Skype about everything from his favorite artists and musical influences to dating, girls and celebrity crushes -- everything his fans wanted to know.
It's nearly a year later and I'm no longer talking to a shaggy-haired, wide-eyed kid, but an emerging star gearing up to release his debut album, something that didn't seem impossible at the time, but probably far off.
"It feels like yesterday," he says of our first interview. "I don’t know what it is about being in this industry, but it makes time fly. Months go by like days -- that’s how it feels. It’s crazy."
It's been a bit of a whirlwind for Ryan ever since. He recently returned from China where he was hand-selected to appear on a popular television show and sing alongside pop star and radio host Kelly Cha (she's basically the Ryan Seacrest of China, Ryan tells me). "It was an amazing experience," he says. "I got to see The Great Wall, and that was the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life."
And just this past weekend, Ryan sang the National Anthem at a Dodgers game, which he was more excited about than nervous. "I don’t get really nervous," he says. "I don’t know why, but it just feels natural when I’m on stage and I just feel more comfortable on stage than I do anywhere else. I just feel like myself."
A lot can happen in a year (obviously) and even though Ryan may look and sound more mature, I was curious to know how his musical taste and style has evolved. "I have an interest in so many great new artists that have come out in the past year," he says, citing Andy Grammar as example. "I think instead of changing, I think I found my musical style and the way I dress and my style in general. I think I finally found it."
Lately, Ryan has been in and out of the studio a lot, so naturally, I tried to get him to spill deets on when we could hear new stuff."There are a lot of plans for this summer," he says. "I’m super excited. It’s going to be a huge summer for myself and my fans. There's going to be a lot of performances, a lot of new music for them, and I think they’re really going to like it."
Since releasing his first official single, "Every Little Thing," back in November and later debuting the music video on RyanSecrest.com, things have come full circle and musicians are now performing covers of his songs on YouTube. "It’s amazing because I started off doing covers and now I have my own music out, so it’s cool to see people doing covers of my songs," he says. "I’ve watched a ton of them, and some people have some really good covers of ["Every Little Thing"]. It’s awesome. "
He's heading into his senior year of high school, which as you can imagine, is going to be a little different than your average teenager's experience. "I take online school," he explains. "It’s a lot harder than you would think, but it’s really convenient and it’s the best choice I have right now."
Regardless, Ryan "still feels pretty normal" and stays connected with his fans via Twitter. "I try to be as much open as I can," he says. "I’ll just tweet whatever’s on my mind. I never think about 'I don’t know if people are going to like if I say this.' I am just myself, and that’s really what I want to be. I just want to show people and set an example that you don’t really have to try to impress people and try to say things that other people want to hear. Just be yourself."
A good motto, for sure. But can it be sustained? After witnessing so many young stars falter in the spotlight from poor decisions surrounding drugs, alcohol and money, it's almost like we're programmed to expect them to fail. Luckily, Ryan is well aware of this and knows how to avoid it. "There are definitely a lot of good things and bad things about this industry," he says. "Money really just ruins you. Money is good for some things in life and for bad things, but I really would like to help people out with it. I just want to be as generous as possible."
These values were instilled in him at a young age. He grew up in a rather modest and very closeknit family. "Growing up, I didn’t have everything I wanted, so I just want to help people out as much as possible and hopefully start a charity. I’m not really worried about the industry changing me because I have my family. My family is really the one thing keeping me grounded. I love having them as a support system."
And a support system they are. Ryan often makes videos with his siblings and even fans have come to recognize them. "They love it," he says. "Every time I have a show, and my fans will ask for pictures and autographs and stuff – they absolutely love it, they’re so excited about it."
Because Ryan doesn't always have time to tweet every single follower (though he assures me he DOES read as much as he can!), he came up with "Team Beatty Appreciation Week" as a thank-you to the people who have been with him since the beginning. "I’ll do a bunch of games on Twitter, I’ll do a bunch of twitcams, post a bunch of covers, chat with people and do a bunch of things like that," he says. "Just really take all my time that I have and give them as much love as I possibly can in that week that I have. I have a lot of fun with it, and I think they have a lot of fun with it too."
So for those of you who are worried that Ryan's road to fame may change him (like every other teen star we know), let me put your mind at ease. He was just as sweet and humble as when I first talked to that shaggy-haired, wide-eyed kid one year ago. And still, all he wanted to talk about was you.
"I just love my fans so much. I love my supporters. They just mean so much to me. It’s something that everyone always says, but it’s something that I always mean, and I always will."
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